


Fluffy Little Orange Matchmaker

by edenofalltrades



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Neighbors, Cat BB-8 (Star Wars), F/M, Fluff and Humor, Inspired by TikTok, Pre-Relationship
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-30
Updated: 2021-01-30
Packaged: 2021-03-17 04:01:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,979
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29093889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/edenofalltrades/pseuds/edenofalltrades
Summary: Rey gets more than she bargained for when her neighbor's adorable orange kitten comes into her apartment via an open window.
Relationships: Poe Dameron/Rey
Comments: 9
Kudos: 56
Collections: Damerey Discord Shenanigans





	Fluffy Little Orange Matchmaker

**Author's Note:**

  * For [damerey_knows](https://archiveofourown.org/users/damerey_knows/gifts).



> HAPPY BIRTHDAY [damerey_knows](https://archiveofourown.org/users/damerey_knows/profile)! Remember when I sent you [this TikTok](https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMJovVBrc/) and said it would make a good Damerey fic? Well surprise! I was planning to write it as a fic for your birthday all along! 💖
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars and will not be making any profit from this story.
> 
> A huge thank you to taidine for beta reading! Also thanks to my friend R and [MASD_1138](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MASD_1138/profile) for feedback on a few plot points, and to [Olpgurl](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Olpgurl/profile) for being a sounding board for multiple aspects of the story. 💖

“You can’t keep doing this, you know.” Rose’s voice was laced with concern. Rey could practically see the worried expression on her friend’s face, and while she appreciated it, it also annoyed the hell out of her. 

Putting her friend on speaker, Rey set her cell phone down on the island counter and walked over to her living room window to let some fresh air in. It was the first day in a long time that it wasn’t completely freezing in Illinois and she wanted to take full advantage of it. 

“…just worried about you.” Ah good, at least she was done by the time Rey got back to the counter. 

“I’m perfectly fine the way I am, Rose,” Rey assured her.

“Paige is in town for the week, come out with us one night and I promise I won’t bother you for a month!” Rose pressed.

Taking a jar of peanut butter out of her cabinet and unscrewing the cap, Rey went through the litany of potential excuses she could use to get out of this. Normally she would use grad school, but she had no major tests or projects on the horizon and Rose knew that. She could say cramps, but she and Rose had been freakishly synced up for years, so that was out the window. Digging a spoon into the peanut butter, Rey had started to concoct some half-assed excuse about wanting to rest before her classes resumed on Monday when she looked up to see the perfect alibi staring her in the face…

…and meowing.

“Rose, I gotta go, there’s a cat in my apartment!” Rey called into the phone, not giving her friend a chance to respond before hanging up to go over to the tiny orange kitten that had made its way into the living room. 

“Hi, sweetheart,” Rey said as she kneeled in front of the kitten, running a finger over its head. “Where’d you come from?”

The orange cat mewled in response. If Rey had to venture a guess, it would have said “the window, duh,” since that was the only open entrance to her apartment, but she wasn’t sure how it got to her window in the first place.

None of her neighbors had cats… that she knew of. Then again, she didn’t really know her neighbors all that well given that she had been living in this building for all of two months. 

Rey had been scrimping and saving to move out of her old apartment in Hyde Park when she got a letter informing her of a long-lost grandfather who died and left her a small fortune, as she was their last remaining relative. After taking it to a lawyer to make sure it wasn’t a scam, Rey thanked every deity she could for the lucky break. The inheritance was big enough that she could pay off her student loans and afford to move into a one bedroom apartment in Evanston, where her school was. 

The first week alone felt like she was living a totally different life. She was able to stop working full time and devote all of her focus to school, no longer feeling like she had to burn the candle at both ends. 

Picking up the small cat, Rey tried to look for any tags that could give her a clue as to who the owner was but came up short. “So you’re both homeless and naked.”

Kitty gave a dissatisfied hiss at her commentary. Rey chuckled as she walked back to the island counter, setting the cat down where she wouldn’t have to worry about it falling off or running back out of the window. The kitten set its front paws forward and leaned down into what looked like a very satisfying stretch before coming back up to shake its head and lay in a curled position. 

“Who could you belong to?” Rey asked the cat as she dug a spoon into the peanut butter. 

The cat meowed in response, like it was trying to tell her and was annoyed that Rey didn’t understand. 

Rey went through her memory of all the interactions she had with her neighbors in the hallways and elevators. There was the tall ginger-haired man who lived a few floors above her who had a permanent scowl on his face. Or the blonde woman who always had her hair in intricate braids and looked like she worked at some high fashion magazine. Or the woman who was committed to a very purple aesthetic and looked like she could have been a crazy cat lady.

Rey knew whom she wanted it to be - the handsome man she saw from time to time while checking the mail who had a killer smile, gorgeous hair, and a proclivity for wearing leather jackets and pants that were tight in all the right places. He always greeted her whenever they ran into each other, wishing her a good evening or weekend. Rey was way too shy to say much back besides a mumbled “hi” and “you too”. After a casual glance at his mailbox revealed the name “P. Dameron”, Rey had spent way more time than she cared to admit trying to guess his name. Peter, Paul, Pablo, Pedro… 

Returning the cat to him would be the best way to find out his name, maybe give her the kick in the ass she needed to actually talk to him, but Rey was certain her luck wasn’t so good. It was probably going to be scowly guy and he would probably accuse her of stealing his cat. He was such an asshole, the cat would probably be better off with her. 

With a mouthful of peanut butter, Rey picked up the phone to get a picture of the now sleeping kitten so she could make a poster to put in the elevator. No sooner had she taken the picture than her doorbell rang. 

“Cmmoming!” Rey called out, trying to swallow the peanut butter as quickly as she could as she made her way to the door. 

There was nothing that could have prepared her for what she would find on the other side - the handsome man from the mailboxes standing by her door frame, hair ruffled like he ran his hands through it in frustration, staring at her wide-eyed. 

“Hi,” he said, features easing to that familiar smile she saw so often. “I’m sorry to bother you, but did you by any chance happen to see a cat? Orange, about this big.” 

He held his hands up the approximate size of the kitten who ran into her apartment. 

“Yems,” Rey nodded, cheeks burning from the embarrassment that the first real conversation she would have with mailbox guy was starting off with her talking through a mouth still half full of peanut butter. 

“I take it that’s a yes?” He chuckled.

Rey held a finger up as she swallowed the last of the peanut butter. “Yes, it’s a yes. A cat matching that description came in through my living room window a few minutes ago.”

“Can I come in?” he asked eagerly.

Rey hesitated. It wasn’t a good idea to let someone in when she didn’t even know their name, but he looked so earnest she couldn’t say no. Stepping aside, she opened the door wider so he could enter her apartment. “It’s on the island counter.”

Once he entered the apartment, the man practically ran to the counter. “Hey buddy! You gave me a real scare back there.”

The kitten meowed happily at its owner, standing up on its hind legs in excitement. Rey closed her apartment door and walked over to watch in amusement as he played with the kitten. 

She waited patiently for him to reunite with his pet before he picked the kitten up and turned his attention back to her. 

“Thank you for finding him…” The man paused, like he wanted to use her name, realizing slowly that he didn’t actually know it. “I’m sorry, I was so focused on my cat, I didn’t realize I never properly introduced myself. I’m Poe.”

“Rey,” she introduced herself with a smile. 

“Rey,” he repeated. “Is there any way I can thank you for finding my little buddy here?”

Rey could think of quite a few things she would have liked to do with him but didn’t think it would be appropriate to share the more R rated thoughts she had about him. 

“It’s okay.” Rey shook her head. “I’m just glad I could help you find your cat.”

“Please, there must be something I can…” He trailed off, looking around. He stopped when his eyes landed on the still-open jar of peanut butter. “Were you eating peanut butter straight out of the jar?”

“So what if I was?!” Rey huffed. 

“You have a state of the art kitchen and you’re eating peanut butter out of a jar.” He cocked an eyebrow. “You have to let me cook for you. Not only because I want to say thank you, but because it would be a travesty for this kitchen to go unused.”

“How do you know it goes unused?” Rey crossed her arms. “I cook all the time. Fancy meals, too!”

“Oh yeah? What do you make?” Poe challenged her. 

“Lots of things,” Rey sputtered, trying to think of a way to spin some of her staple meals. “I make macaroni au fromage and purée de pommes de terre. Can you make either of those?!”

“Mac and cheese or mashed potatoes?” He called her bluff. “Yeah, I think I can handle those.”

“Oh.” Rey tried to think of something else but it was no use. 

“What are your plans for tonight?” Poe asked, voice laced with determination. 

“I don’t have any.”

“Any dietary restrictions? Allergies?”

Rey shook her head.

“Great,” he grinned as he handed the kitten over to Rey. “Watch Bee for an hour, two, tops, and I’ll be back with the ingredients for a mind-blowing dinner.”

Before Rey had a chance to say anything, Poe was out of her apartment like a whirlwind, leaving her and a very confused kitten in his wake. 

“Is he always like this?” Rey asked the kitten, who meowed in response. “Thought so.”

* * *

True to his word, Poe was back just over an hour after he left, carrying three full bags from Jewel-Osco.

“Just sit back, relax, and I’ll make you a life-changing dinner,” Poe said with a wink as he laid out the ingredients and got to work. 

Rey sat on a stool by her island counter, watching mesmerized as Poe cut chunks of beef, diced onions and mushrooms. The way he managed to hold a conversation with her while keeping an eye on the meal astounded her - she had a tendency to burn toast if she didn’t keep her attention on it the entire time. 

“I’m making boeuf bourguignon,” Poe explained as he added tomato paste to the pan. “Since you have such an affinity for French food.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever had that,” Rey frowned. She had heard of it for sure, having seen _Julie & Julia_, but never went anywhere that was fancy enough to serve it and hadn’t felt the desire to learn how to make it herself. 

“This is my Dad’s version of it.” Poe didn’t take his eyes off the pan as he spoke. “So it’s not quite as intense as Julia Child’s recipe but still really good. I’m also making some purée de pommes de terre, because I know how much you like that.”

If the smell was any indication, he was sure to be right. The heavenly aroma made Rey salivate.This was definitely a step up from the cup noodles she would have probably been eating otherwise that night. 

When Poe plated the meal it looked like something straight out of a culinary magazine. Rey moaned as she chewed her first bite, hoping she didn’t sound too obscene. 

“I take it you like it?” Poe asked. 

“This is fantastic!” Rey speared more beef on her fork, not wanting to waste time talking when she could have been eating. 

“I’m glad to hear it, sunshine,” Poe chuckled as he set his own plate down on the counter and sat beside her. Rey paused at his words. “Sunshine” didn’t sound anything like her name at all, so she didn’t think she had misheard him, but he hardly knew her, it was way too soon to be using terms of endearment. She pushed the thought aside; he probably said that to everyone. 

“So what do you do for a living?” Poe asked a few minutes later.

“I’m in grad school at Northwestern,” Rey answered, determined to avoid the details of how she was paying for both school and the apartment if she could help it. “How about you?”

“I’m in the IT department at Black Squadron.” 

Rey had seen their building before. She always thought it looked really cool.

Before Rey had a chance to say anything else, Poe got up and walked over to the fridge to get the bottle of wine he bought. Following Rey’s instruction, he got two glasses and filled them, handing one to Rey before sitting next to her with the other. 

“To getting acquainted,” Poe said as he held out his glass for a toast.

“To getting acquainted,” Rey responded, clinking her glass against his.

* * *

A few weeks later, Rey was catching up on her reading for the week when Bee, the kitten, decided to come over again. Knowing who he belonged to, Rey took the initiative to bring him upstairs to Poe’s apartment herself. 

“Thanks again,” he said with a sigh as he took the meowing kitten from Rey. “How does pasta primavera sound?”

“Italian?” Rey frowned, unsure of where he was going with his query. 

“No,” he chuckled. “I mean for dinner. You rescued him again, I owe you a meal.”

“Poe, you don’t owe me anything.” Rey assured him. “I’m happy to help.”

“I know but…” he trailed off. “I want to.”

Oh. That was unexpected.

“I mean, I was cooking that for myself and I was probably going to make too much for one anyway,” he backpedaled, rubbing above his eyebrow with his thumb. “But if you don’t want to…”

“Pasta primavera sounds lovely,” Rey interrupted. 

“Great,” he smiled and Rey felt her heart flutter. “Come back in an hour or so?”

In the time between leaving Poe’s apartment and getting back to her own, a panic washed over Rey - so she did the only thing she could think of and called Rose. 

“Rose! Help! Poe’s cat climbed into my apartment again and he invited me to his place for dinner to say thank you. I don’t know what to wear! Is it a date? Is it a casual thing? Do I put on makeup?!”

“Okay that was a lot of words in a very short time,” Rose responded unhelpfully. “Poe is…”

“My upstairs neighbor!” Rey reminded. “The guy who says hi to me by the mailboxes with the leather jackets, and the cute cat who has a penchant for running into my apartment.”

“Oh right, the guy you have a crush on!”

“Right, so what do I wear?!” Rey brought the conversation back on track. 

“What are you wearing now?”

“Oversized hoodie and leggings.”

“Keep the leggings, put on the white tunic we got when we went shopping last week,” Rose suggested. “I’m assuming no makeup so keep it natural, just a bit of eyeshadow, maybe a light lipstick. That way you’ll still look nice but if it’s not a date, it doesn’t look like you misread the signals.”

“How will I know if it’s a date?” Rey bit her lip, wishing there was an easy answer.

“If he kisses you at the end of the night, it’s a date. Otherwise, he’s just being neighborly.”

Rey spent the entire night looking for signs to indicate what it was. He smiled broadly when he saw her and told her she looked amazing. But then the conversation was friendly, neighborly. He asked about how her classes were going, she asked him about his job. They talked about how weird Illinois weather was - snowing one day, in April, and mild and sunny the next. They shared their personal theories about some of their neighbors. It was all very tame and Rey thought it was an indication that he was just being neighborly - but then he called her “sunshine” again and the confusion came flooding back.

At the end of the night, Rey had a container of pasta primavera for dinner the next night and a hug. It wasn’t a kiss to clear things up, but it wasn’t a handshake. It just left her further in limbo and she didn’t know what to make of it. 

* * *

Bee ran into her apartment again the following week, Poe thanked her with enchiladas and another hug. 

When it happened again a few days later it was chicken pot pie and what Rey swore was going to be a kiss on the cheek. 

“You should just ask him directly,” Rose suggested when Rey called the following day, frustration at a boiling point. Rey hated that she was even wasting so much energy on this - worrying about if a boy liked her, reading into the tiniest things. “How many times has that cat run into your apartment? Next time it happens, go straight to his place and ask him what his intentions are before he distracts you with more food.”

“Okay,” Rey agreed. It sounded like a good plan. 

One that she could enact right away given the meowing coming from the little ball of orange fur settling itself at her feet. 

“Kitty just arrived, wish me luck!” Rey called into the phone before hanging up. 

“Come on, Bee,” Rey said as she picked up the kitten. “Let’s go get some answers from your daddy.”

Poe clearly wasn’t expecting company when Rey came over, given the fact that he was shirtless when he opened the door. “Rey! Hi!”

“He came back.” Rey held the meowing cat out in front of her.

“You ran away again, buddy?” Poe cooed at the cat as he cuddled it against his chest. 

It was taking a lot of Rey’s strength to stay focused. She needed to rip the metaphorical band aid off and ask him what the deal was before he tempted her with another meal. “Can I come in? We need to talk.”

Poe’s head snapped up. “Sure, yeah.”

He stepped aside to let her come in, closing the door behind her. “Is it okay if I go and grab a shirt real quick?”

“Yeah, that’s fine.” As much as she enjoyed the view, Rey knew she would get distracted if he didn’t cover up. Plus this gave her a bit more time to gather up the courage to bring up what she came here to discuss in the first place. 

“What did you want to talk about, sunshine?” he asked with his trademark smile when he re-entered the room wearing an unfairly tight shirt. 

“That!” Rey pointed a finger at him. “You call me sunshine, you cook dinner for me, you drop everything to spend the evening with me but you still haven’t kissed me!”

“That’s it?” Poe chuckled like she told him she wanted a high five.

“I just…” Rey trailed off, mouth going dry as Poe approached her, looking at her with the determination of a predator stalking their prey. 

“If you wanted me to kiss you,” he brought his hand up to cup her cheek. “Then all you had to do was say so.”

Poe leaned forward, stopping so close that Rey could feel his breath on her face. Gulping, she practically whimpered “I want you to ki-”

Before she could get all of the words out, Poe closed the gap, pressing his lips against hers. Rey wrapped her arms around Poe’s neck, tangling her hand in his soft curls. He kissed her like his very life depended on it, using his other arm to pull her in close so she was flush against him. 

When they finally did pull apart, Poe rested his forehead against Rey’s, bringing both hands up to stroke her hair, her cheeks, whatever part of her body was closest to his reach before settling on her waist. Rey linked her hands together, playing with the hair at the nape of his neck.

Rey felt comfortable in his embrace but knew they couldn’t stay that way indefinitely. Saving her the trouble of being the one to break it, Poe pulled away first, unlinking his arms from behind her waist and taking a step back. “Did that clear a few things up?”

“Yeah…” Rey started, trailing off as she thought about it. “No, not really.”

Poe frowned.

“Why do you keep calling me sunshine?” Rey asked the question that had been on her mind for weeks now. “Why do you insist on feeding me? I mean, not that I’m complaining, your food is fantastic, but you don’t have to and you keep…”

Poe put a hand out to stop Rey’s rambling. “I call you sunshine because it’s a play on your name. Rey, ray, ray of sunshine.”

“Oh.”

He ran a hand up and down her arm. “And I cook for you because I like feeding you. I like seeing how excited you get when I put a plate in front of you, I like the sounds you make when you try things for the first time. I also want to make sure you’re actually eating something substantive, if what I saw that day and what you’ve been telling me about your schedule are any indication of your diet.”

“But then why not just ask me out on a date?” Rey furrowed her brow. “Why do the whole run around?”

“We’ve been having dinner on a semi-regular basis…” Poe grasped at straws. 

“Always because you were trying to thank me for bringing your cat back.” Rey wanted to add what Rose said about a kiss at the end of the night indicating the difference between a date and just dinner between neighbors. 

Poe opened and closed his mouth like he was considering what to say. Rey was just about to interrupt, tell him nevermind, not to worry, that she was sorry for even rocking the metaphorical boat, when he spoke again. “You’re right.”

Taking both of her hands in his, Poe looked Rey in the eye and asked, without any ambiguity, “Rey, my gorgeous neighbor, rescuer of my cat, would you do me the honor of going on a date with me this weekend?”

“I would love to, Poe,” Rey chuckled. 

“I know I should probably wait for the actual date but I really want to kiss you again,” Poe confessed.

Releasing his hands, Rey took a step closer, wrapping her arms around his neck. “I don’t want to wait, either.”

“Well then looks like we’re in agreement here.” Poe was grinning as he leaned forward to kiss Rey again. Whereas their first kiss was all firey and passionate, this one was slower, sweeter. 

“How does crispy chicken stir fry sound?” Poe asked when they pulled apart. “For dinner.”

“I mean, I did bring your cat back so by our unofficial agreement, you do owe me a meal,” Rey teased. 

“I do, indeed,” Poe nodded. “And since it’s a quick meal to make, it leaves us more time for this…”

Throughout all their limited interactions at the mailboxes, Rey built up this persona of Poe as being cool and sophisticated. In reality, he was a silly, sweet, charming man and Rey couldn’t wait to get to know him more. As he kissed her for the third time that afternoon, all Rey could think about was how she could definitely get used to this.


End file.
